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The Eric Movie
The Eric Movie is an upcoming 2018 3D adult animated flash/computer-animated comedy film. This will be the second GoAnimate film to combine CGI and Flash animation with the first being The Non-Business Themes Movie in January 2018. This movie is directed by TigerMario2002. This film is dedicated to Don Rickles as he voiced Ronald Jefferson who is a local insult comic before he died. With a budget of $200 million, this is the most expensive Sony Pictures Animation film and the first one to have flash animation in it as well. According to an interview with the series creator, the film will feature more darker tones, stronger violence, and darker themes than the series as well as more darker and crude jokes. The film will feature the voices of TigerMario2002, Don Rickles (who recorded half his lines before his death which were later finished by Jim Cummings, Cummings also finished Rickles lines in the movie The Non-Business Themes Movie), Jim Cummings, Frank Welker, Tara Strong, Alan Thicke (his last performance for the show overall with 10% of his remaining dialogue being done by Jeff Bennett), and Chris Rock reprising their roles in the film, as well as Kevin Michael Richardson (replacing Nate Dogg due to his death in 2011), John Cena, Ben Stiller, Beyoncé Knowles, Harrison Ford, Peter Cullen, Regina King (replacing Marcia Wallace due to her death in 2013), and Ryan Gosling (which is also his first animated voice role) joining the cast, with unused voice recordings of Paul Newman to be used in the film as well. It is slated to be released on March 2, 2018 in conventional 2D, RealD 3D, Digital 3D, and IMAX formats in the United States and Canada by Sony Pictures Releasing. Synopsis Eric Stevenson is a normal teen that goes to Hardman High School who dreams of getting girls and being rich until one day he accidentally releases a secret villain from being frozen who takes over the city and gets kicked out. Now Eric with his friends, he must find a way to defeat the foul villain. On the way, he needs to find a long lost missing person who can help with the defeating of this bad man. Cast The film features roughly the same voice cast as the television series as some actors that aren't in the movie either died, retired, got replaced, or fired from the show. Hip-hop rapper/singer Nate Dogg who was the original voice of Porky died in 2011, as a result his voice was provided by Kevin Michael Richardson. * TigerMario2002: as Eric Stevenson, a normal middle school boy who goes out on a adventure to save his town. TigerMario2002: also provides the voices of PC Guy, Chucky Robinson, Armando the Pony (Eric's Imaginary friend), Timothy Busters (Macusoper's dad), Warren Cook, PC Guy Jr, Eric Robertson, Officer Jones, Robbie Robins, Alex Kimble, Macusoper Busters, Dr. Chekols, Jaamar Neitas (Eric's Jamaican Friend), Renee Neitas, Lamar Neitas, Dad on TV commericial, Christian Dickens, County Officer #1, County Officer #2, County Officer, #4, Professor Jenkins, Sheriff #1, Sheriff #3, and Lesbian Woman Kissing #2. The singing voice of Eric Stevenson is provided by Tom Kenny due to TigerMario2002 admitting that he's a horrible singer which he joked and laughed about. * Peter Dinklage as Hero Man, a long lost and almost forgotten hero that was always here to save the day of Eric's town from the evil Lord Coxman. When the movie was in production, Matt Groening thought of out of all actors in the world, Peter Dinklage should voice the character Hero Man due to his performance in Game of Thrones as well as his voice performance in The Angry Birds Movie (2016). Dinklage who was also a fan of the show accepeted the role delighted and happy. * Frank Welker as Donald Rojo, Andy Olman, Ashton Ashuton, Italian Mob Boss, DoKan Brown, and Scooby Doo. * Beyoncé Knowles as Amanda Stevenson, Eric's mom. She is voiced by Grey DeLisle in the series. Groening originally wanted Grey DeLisle to reprise her role as Amanda Stevenson which she was very happy to accept, however DeLisle later informed that she couldn't voice Amanda due to her schedule conflicts with Mighty Magiswords along with The Loud House so Knowles accepted the role because of her interest in The Eric Show. * Chris Rock as Randy Olman, Eric's rival in school who constantly disses him and his whole family wishing that they never existed. Rock reprised his role as Randy from previous episodes of The Eric Show. * Ben Stiller as RoKan Brown, a foreign exchange student who loves Eric to death after he saved him from a flying car. This is one of the characters introduced and made for this film. * Catherine O'Hara as June Busters, Macusoper's Mom who always grounds her son Macusoper Busters for stupid things such as eating McDonald's. * Tara Strong as Twinkle Twinkle Star, a little child-like star who always guides Eric when he's in trouble. Strong also voices Roxanne Rose, Grey Williams, and Lesbian Women Kissing #1 * Ryan Gosling as Florian Robinson, a henchman of Lord Chriaq. This is Gosling's first animated role to date. Matt Groening stated that Florian will be in future episodes of the TV series being voiced by Gosling in his first 3 appearances and Fred Tatasciore in all other episodes. * Jim Cummings as Johnny Anderson, one of Eric's best friends that ends up beating up Eric's Uncle for being too tall and accidentally kills him which angers Eric. Cummings also voices Ren Barebutt, Florence Freeman, Thurgood Robinson, Trevor Furuck, Ronald Jefferson, Johnny Brown, Aaron Williams, Homeless Man, Turbo Car, Sheriff Brown, Sheriff #2, and Sheriff #4. Ronald Jefferson was originally voiced by Don Rickles until his death in 2017. Rickles was able to record half of his lines but he died during production so Cummings stepped in to finish his lines. This is the second time Cummings doubled for Don Rickles, the first being in The Non-Business Themes Movie. * Paul Newman (archive recordings) as Grandpa Joe. This is the first time in over half a decade that Newman played Grandpa Joe via a huge amount of archive voice recordings that were from various unused dialogue from a huge amount of episodes. Matt Groening got the idea to bring back Newman's voice after the cast members wished to work with him again and hear the real and original voice of the character which will surprise audiences based on a test screening. Groening also stated that if there is enough voice recordings left, they will be used for the series and when they run out he stated that Corey Burton (who previously voice doubled for Newman with the character Doc Hudson another character who Newman had voiced which is from the movies Cars and Cars 3) will assume the role although TigerMario2002: previously played him in the episode "A Christmas Story of the Bad Boys" on December 15, 2008, Jeff Bennett was voicing him in Seasons 23-25, Fred Tatasciore voiced him in Seasons 26 and 27, and Kevin Michael Richardson voicing him in the Christmas special "Eric Steals the Christmas Spirit" which aired on December 23, 2014. The singing voice of Grandpa Joe is provided by Jess Harnell who also voiced Grandpa Joe in the episodes "Dogman" and "Mandog" which were both in 2007 due to Newman being unavailable to record as well as the videogames The Eric Show: Adventures in the City, Eric Stevenson Searches for Clues, and the upcoming game to tie in for the movie The Eric Game. * John Cena as Donnie Butler, John's gay uncle who had sex with his brother. * Alan Thicke as Ronnie Butler, John's gay parent. Thicke had recorded all of his lines for the character before his death as well as his lines to be in the upcoming videogame tie-in for the movie The Eric Game. * Tom McGrath and Dee Bradley Baker as Ed and Ken the Dumb Bastards, two twins that are dumb and have low IQ’s as well as failing kindergarten for 20 years. Ed and Ken the Dumb Bastards were originally made to be voiced by Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong who were to be accepting the role. However, Cheech and Chong denied the role for personal reasons and schedule conflicts. Actors such as Sacha Baron Cohen, Nick Kroll, Tommy Lee Jones, and Will Smith were all looked at to do the role which all of them denied to be cast. Eventually after going through all actors, co-director Tom McGrath eventually signed up to voice Ed due to cast members being used to this temporary voice he gave which is a high voice with a New York accent while Dee Bradley Baker signed to voice Ken which was easier due to being a regular voice actor already in The Eric Show. * Kath Soucie as Regina Goes, Kendra's mom. In all previous appearances of Regina Goes she was voiced by Tara Strong, Grey DeLisle, and Cree Summer with Soucie voicing her in newer appearances and since being the current voice of her, she was chosen to reprise her role. * John DiMaggio as Freddie Ronnas, a genius/teacher's pet of Eric's High School. * Kevin Michael Richardson as Roger “Porky” Jackson Jr, a football athlete who hates Eric and bullies him a lot and ends up putting Eric in the hospital for a long. The original voice actor for Porky who is Nate Dogg died in 2011 with Kevin Michael Richardson being picked to be the new voice due to his ability to sound similar to Nate Dogg as well as his notable deep voice. *Peter Cullen as Roger Jackson Sr, Porky’s Dad who bullies Eric's Dad just like how Porky Jr do to Eric. James Caan was originally the voice of Porky's Dad in most appearances in the show while Cullen voiced him when Caan wasn't available. Since James Caan wasn't available, Matt Groening choice Peter Cullen to do the voice in the film. * Harrison Ford as Chibugo Hunter, the brother of the evil lord who is trying to take over Eric's town. Ford voiced Chibugo due to Matt Groening being a fan of Star Wars and Han Solo. * Billy West as Johnny West, a police officer who threatens to kill Eric after he calls his cop outfit gay and homo. Billy West also voices Woody the Woodpecker in a cameo as well as in the short that is shown before the film on international prints. * Regina King as Freddie's mom. She was previously voiced by Marcia Wallace until her death in 2013 which the decision to give her a all new voice was decided by fellow cast member TigerMario2002: as well as the director Matt Groening. Theatrical Release The film was originally going to get a January 5, 2015 release until it was pushed back to a December 5, 2016. Then Sony Pictures Animation announced the film would be pushed back to an unknown date in 2018. In January 2017, the date of the film's release was announced to be May 31, 2019 as the film was put back in production due to the deaths of Joe Alaskey and Alan Thicke. However, on May 2017, the release date was moved up to March 16, 2018 since the voice work was finished for the actors. Production A feature film adaptation of The Eric Show was in the making of since 1989. When the show's creator, Roger Thorn was approached on the film, he responded saying "If we make this film, it will boost all sales for the show and it will be more popular as a result." Then it was put in development hell for over 20 years until Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation joined the production of the film as well. The voice cast was signed on and the script was written in 2011. Originally the co-creator and producers thought that making a film based on the series would impact the show badly since there was not enough crew to focus on this production and the series at the same time. Later that year, more people were hired in order to do episodes on the series and the movie. In 2013 and 2014 problems arose for the film was that some of the voice cast either gotten old or retired. The very first voice actor to die was Marcia Wallace in 2013 due to breast cancer. To replace Wallace, Regina King was called in to do the role instead. The animation of the film was finished on April 2017. Recording of the film started in 2016 and ended in June 2017. Don Rickles, the voice of Ronald Jefferson, unexpectedly died in April 6, 2017 causing TigerMario2002 to finished his lines. For the film's release in IMAX theaters, the film's aspect ratio will be shown 1.90:1 for the whole film showing no black bars at all. The film will also have a post-credit scene like all other GoAnimate Studios films since 2015. The animation and special effects of the film will be provided by Animal Logic, Sony Pictures ImageWorks, and Anima Studios. The film will be distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing in North America and Universal Pictures internationally. Rating The film is aimed at having either a PG rating or PG-13 rating. If it has a PG-13 rating, it will be the first Sony Pictures Animation with that rating. Based on most of the episodes in the TV series, it is highly likely that the film will get a PG-13 rating although a PG rating is possible but unlikely to happen. On October 2, 2017, it was confirmed that the film will be rated PG-13 for “Intense sequences of Stylized Violence and Action, Crude and Suggestive Material, Teen Partying and Strong Language." This announcement thus made this film the first PG-13 film by Sony Pictures Animation despite the company only releasing it and not in the production of the film. In the UK, the BBFC originally rated this film 15 without any cuts at all for "infrequent strong violence, threat, sex references, obscured strong language" instead of the 12A rating that Universal Pictures UK had wanted. In order to achieve this rating (*Spoiler Alerts Ahead*) they had to reduce the blood shown in one scene where a main character get's shot and dies as well as a Grandpa fighting robots while getting his head cut off at the end. FXX also acquired TV rights for the TV premiere of the film as well. It has been predicted that the TV rating for the film will be TV-14-DLSV. Ratings in all countries * US: PG-13 * UK: 15 (original rating before cuts), 12A '''(new rating after cuts were made) * Argentina: '''13 * Australia: M''' * Austria: '''14+ * Brazil: 16 * Canada: PG '''(British Columbia) * Chile: '''14 * France: Tous publics * Germany: 12 * Hong Kong: IIA Release The film is set to be released on February 14, 2018 in 2D, 3D and IMAX formats. The film will also have a IMAX 3D release making it the first Sony Pictures Animation film with this type of release. The film will be accompanied by a short film titled "The Banana" in the North American release and international releases will have a remastered Woody Woodpecker short that is in 3D. The decision for a short infront of the film came so children can watch the film as well. On the standard and 3D releases of the film, the short will appear after the Feature Presentation bumper in theaters while in the IMAX and IMAX 3D version of the film, there will be a bumper depending on the type of theater that will screen it saying "Now that the previews are over, let's look at the all new short titled The Banana" in the North American prints but in the international prints it will say "Before the movie starts, here's Woody the Woodpecker." The IMAX release will also have a special IMAX Countdown for the film as well. Marketing Early animation footage debuted on April 2016 at a press conference for Sony Pictures Entertainment and Universal Studios. Some critics praised the animation and vocal performances saying "this isn't like any other Disney, Pixar, Blue Sky Studios, or even Illumination Entertainment film" while adding that the film has potential and is very unique from other animated films from the modern movie industry. The first teaser poster was released on May 2017, the same time Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 was released, as well as a teaser trailer featuring Eric joking about getting his own film. This teaser was shown before various films such as Wonder Woman, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Baby Driver, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2. The poster and teaser trailer received positive reviews saying it's simple and unique while the teaser trailer was positively received calling it an enjoyment to see and recommended for audiences. The voice of Eric and various other characters, TigerMario2002: was later interviewed about the film on May 3, 2017 by Jimmy Fallon explaining that the film was an enjoyment and one of the best projects he was ever in. The first official trailer was released on August 1, 2017 being shown before the infamous The Emoji Movie. ''This trailer received mostly positive reviews due to the perfect and good usage of 3D effects and CGI as well as having good comedy with the usage of crude humor such a potty humor being infrequent. The second trailer was released on September 30, 2017 being shown before ''Blade Runner 2049 ''as well as other films. The third and final trailer was released on December 4, 2017 being shown before IMAX showings of ''Star Wars: The Last Jedi ''and ''Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ''as well as regular and 3D showings of ''Ferdinand and other films. Two short films were also made to promote the film which were shown before night showings of Coco ''and showings of ''Justice League ''as well. According to Fandango, customers that pre-order tickets to ''The Commuter ''as well as ''Black Panther will receive free items related to The Eric Movie ''in order to promote the film the best they can. On January 2, 2018, a YouTube video about the cast of ''The Eric Movie talking and trolling people while playing various videogames such as Grand Theft Auto V, NBA 2K18, and Call of Duty: World War II which has 1 million likes and 200 dislikes. According to Sony Pictures Entertainment and Universal Studios, the advertising campaign for the film was based on the two studios looking closely at how Deadpool ''was advertised by 20th Century Fox in 2015 and 2016. Reception Box Office Projection In December 2017, a survey from Fandango indicated that ''The Eric Movie was the third most anticipated film in 2018 behind Avengers: Infinity War ''and ''Black Panther. Fandango reported that its first 24 hours of ticket presales for the film were the largest ever for a animated film and so many pre-ordered ticket were made that the website crashed a lot as a result. GoAnimate Studios and GoAnimate Studios Animation is also on high hopes that this film will help redeem the studios from the poor box office performances of Tim's Takeover: The Movie, the extremely bad performance of Business Friendly: The Movie which caused the studio to lose $400 million the biggest flop of all time which nearly made the studios of GoAnimate to shut down, and the mediocre and infamous Microsoft Mary: The Movie which made GoAnimate Studios/GoAnimate Studios Animation to abandon Microsoft type of animation. Early projections for the film in January 2017 had it earning between $50-70 million in the opening weekend in the United States and Canada. By the end of January 2018, these projections were updated to have the film earn between $100-150 million, ultimately increasing again closer to the film's release, projecting it to earn $150-175 million or more. Sony projected the film to gross around $200 million during opening weekend. ''The Eric Movie ''is also projected to earn upwards of $475 million for it's domestic total. Internationally according to predictions by Universal (the international distributor), the film is projected to gross between $200-250 million in opening weekend which will be a instant hit for the film. Critical Response Category:Columbia Pictures films Category:Universal Pictures films Category:United International Pictures films Category:Sony Pictures Releasing films Category:IMAX 3D Category:RealD 3D Category:Sony Pictures Animation films Category:Movies that are rated PG-13 Category:PG-13 Rated Movies Category:PG-13 Rated films Category:IMAX Digital 2D Category:12A rated films Category:Rated PG-13 Movies Category:Sony films Category:Sony Movies Category:Specially Formatted for IMAX Category:IMAX DMR Category:Edited by the BBFC